A bio-secure bubble, also known as a bubble, [1] or hub city, [2] [3] was a hosting arrangement for sporting events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which events were held at a centralized site, often behind closed doors, with strict quarantine and safety protocols in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A bubble was established for a single sports season, tournament, or for an ongoing series of events, allowing them to still be held and made available to broadcast audiences.
A bio-secure bubble typically consisted of multiple sites comprising a secure perimeter (often within close proximity to each other), including player residences (such as hotels), training facilities, and the venue proper. All participants, including players, team staff, and other staff (such as broadcasting staff present on-site) were screened and tested for COVID-19 before entering the bubble, [4] live within its confines for the duration of the event, and were prohibited from leaving the perimeter until they had completed play. The participants were screened and tested regularly for COVID-19, and restricted from access to and by the general public. Participants were reprimanded and penalized if they breached biosecurity protocols while within the bubble. [4] [1]
As they were usually held without public spectators, events within a bubble were typically produced with television audiences in mind, and broadcasters were able to employ production techniques not possible in a typical venue with fans, such as different camera angles (including drone cameras) [5] and enhanced microphone configurations. [6] The venue was customized with video boards and artificial crowd noise to simulate the experience of the designated home team's venue, [7] [8] and display mosaics of "virtual" fans via videoconferencing. [9]
Taiwan's Super Basketball League was the first basketball league in the world to move competition into a bubble setting in order to complete the season. [10]
The National Basketball Association was among the first major American sports leagues to suspend play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [11] [12] [13] In June 2020, the league's board of governors approved a plan to complete the remainder of the 2019–20 season, including the remaining regular season games and the playoffs, within a centralized bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Orlando, Florida's Walt Disney World. [14] Players were housed in three of Walt Disney World's resorts, [15] and games were held at one of three arenas within the complex (with one, the AdventHealth Arena, designated as the flagship venue to host nationally televised games and the final rounds of the playoffs). [6]
The mixed martial arts promotion UFC established a bubble known as "Fight Island" to conduct international events, which comprised a quarantine zone on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, and used the du Forum concert venue as its competition site. [16] UFC later returned to Yas Island to hold UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar in January 2021; although branded as a Fight Island card, the event was held with limited spectators at the newly opened Etihad Arena instead. [17] [18] [19]
The July 2020 test series between England and West Indies was conducted as a bubble, with players staying in a hotel on-site. [20] On 16 July 2020 during the morning of the second Test, Jofra Archer was excluded from England's squad after breaching COVID-19 protocols by leaving to his home after the first Test. Archer was fined, and ordered to self-isolate for five days before returning. [21] [22] [23]
The 2020 Indian Premier League was re-located to bubbles in the United Arab Emirates. [24] [25]
The first One Day International (ODI) in England's tour of South Africa on 4 December 2020 was postponed to 6 December after a South African player tested positive for COVID-19; matches were being held in Newlands and Paarl, with players staying at a hotel in Cape Town. The match was called off after two employees of the quarantine hotel tested positive. Two English players were also reported to have unconfirmed cases, after which the second ODI on 7 December was postponed. On 7 December, the remainder of the ODI series was called off. [26] [20] [27] [28]
Curling Canada hosted most national championships for the 2020–21 curling season, including the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, and the World Men's and Women's championships, at a bubble using the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. All events were held behind closed doors. [29] [30]
Major League Soccer conducted an in-season tournament—the MLS is Back Tournament—at a bubble within the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. [5] [31]
The 2020 Chinese Super League split its teams between Dalian and Suzhou. [32] The Philippines Football League is noted for hosting its 2020 season in just under two weeks under a bubble with a downsized format, due to financial and logistics issues caused by the pandemic. [33]
The National Hockey League established a bubble in two Canadian cities to conduct its 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, with Eastern Conference teams being initially hubbed at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and Western Conference teams being hubbed out of Rogers Place in Edmonton. Beginning with the conference finals, all games were played in Edmonton, including the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals. [34] [8]
The 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were originally awarded to Edmonton and Red Deer. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the IIHF established a bubble for the tournament and hosted it solely at Rogers Place. [35] [36]
WWE introduced an arena residence inspired by bubbles in August 2020 known as the "ThunderDome", which became the home arena for its major pay-per-view events and weekly programs (such as Raw and SmackDown ). It replaced the smaller studio of the WWE Performance Center, a training facility where WWE originated the majority of its programming since the onset of the pandemic. Its stage featured a virtual audience displayed on a grandstand constructed from rows of LED screens, and it was promoted as featuring an in-arena production on par with WWE's pay-per-view events before the pandemic. [37] [38] The ThunderDome was initially situated at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. [37] [38] In December 2020, WWE relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, as Amway Center was needed by the arena's sports tenants. [39] In April 2021, after holding WrestleMania 37 as its first major in-person show since the onset of the pandemic, WWE relocated the ThunderDome setup to Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, as Tropicana Field was needed by the Tampa Bay Rays. [40] In mid-July, WWE resumed its live touring shows. [41]
Other professional wrestling promotions similarly held shows behind closed doors. All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held empty arena shows at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida (with a brief few weeks in March–April 2020 at The Nightmare Factory, AEW's de facto training facility in Norcross, Georgia). To make up for not being able to have live fans, employees and contracted wrestlers served as the live audience during matches in which they were not involved. [42] [43] In July, AEW began experimenting with invited guests in selected seating areas for a plan towards allowing ticketed spectators. Episodes were done in consecutive days so wrestlers can spend two days every other week. In August, with NASCAR Holdings having successfully held two Daytona International Speedway race meetings (one IMSA and one NASCAR) and one IMSA meeting at Sebring International Raceway, AEW began to readmit a limited number of fans (10–15% venue capacity), [44] with a gradual increase in spectators running frequently before running full capacity shows in May 2021. [45] AEW resumed live touring in July 2021. [46]
Television and film director Tyler Perry has used a bubble model to film productions at his Tyler Perry Studios in Georgia, United States. The studio is situated on the site of the former Fort McPherson military base, with cast and crew staying and quarantining in the various historic homes, barracks, and permanent sets on the lot, which include a replica of the White House and a "neighborhood" of functioning houses. This arrangement is aided by the quicker turnaround time of Perry's productions in comparison to other television series, as well as his productions rarely performing shoots outside of the lot. [47] [48] [49]
The use of bubbles by major professional leagues in North America have been considered largely effective; the National Basketball Association [50] and National Hockey League [51] did not record any new cases of COVID-19 within their respective bubbles during the duration of competitions staged there. By contrast, the 2020 regular seasons of Major League Baseball and the NFL—which had teams travelling to individual venues as usual (albeit with MLB realigning its schedule to reduce travel)—were affected by outbreaks among players that led to various postponed games. [52] [53] Major League Baseball eventually decided to use a neutral site model for its 2020 postseason in order to reduce the chance of further disruption, with games split between venues in California and Texas beginning with the Division Series round, and the 2020 World Series held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Most games were held behind closed doors, except for the National League Championship Series and World Series in Arlington, which hosted spectators at 25% of the new stadium's capacity. [54] [55] There were examples of failed bubbles leading to outbreaks during The Spring League (an American football league's) autumn 2020 season [56] and the winter 2021 season of the National Women's Hockey League. [57]
Concerns have been raised over "bubble fatigue", as players are isolated from their families and the outside world for an extended period of time until the event concludes or they are eliminated. [58] [59] IPL player Shikhar Dhawan described the experience as being "almost like Bigg Boss [the Indian version of Big Brother]", and a test of his "mental strength". [60]
Bell Centre formerly known as Molson Centre, is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montreal Forum. It is owned by the Molson family via the team's ownership group Groupe CH, and managed via Groupe CH subsidiary Evenko.
Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, has held the naming rights to the arena since its opening.
Footprint Center is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened under the name America West Arena on June 6, 1992, at a cost of $89 million.
The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named for its corporate sponsor United Airlines. With a capacity of nearly 21,000, the United Center is the largest arena by capacity in the NBA, and second largest arena by capacity in the NHL. It also has a seating capacity of 23,500 for concerts.
Amalie Arena is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, United States, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League.
Canada Life Centre is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
Paycom Center is an arena located in Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It opened in 2002 and since 2008 has served as the home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder. Previously, the arena was home to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until the team folded in July 2009, and the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of AF2 from 2004 to 2009 when the team moved to the Cox Convention Center. In addition to its use as a sports venue, Paycom Center hosts concerts, family and social events, conventions, ice shows, and civic events. The arena is owned by the city and operated by the SMG property management company and has 18,203 seats in the basketball configuration, 15,152 for hockey, and can seat up to 16,591 for concerts.
The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in the Uncasville area of Montville, Connecticut located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of configurable exhibition space and a 400-foot (120 m) clear span. It was built by the Perini Building Company, and opened in October 2001. The arena is home to the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a 220-acre (89 ha) multi-purpose sports complex located at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando. The complex allows families to combine tournaments and competition with a visit to vacation destinations in the area. The complex includes nine venues and hosts numerous professional and amateur sporting events throughout the year.
The term "behind closed doors" is used in several sports to describe matches played where spectators are not allowed in the stadium or venue to watch. A match played in this manner is also referred to as a crowdless game. Such games are rare in professional sports, and usually occur due to reasons outside either teams' control. These may include as a punishment or remedy for a participating team, stadium safety problems, preventing potentially dangerous clashes between rival supporters, wider safety concerns, or public health concerns like the COVID-19 pandemic.
T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), T-Mobile Arena is situated on the Las Vegas Strip behind the New York-New York and Park MGM casino hotels.
UBS Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated directly adjacent to the eastern limits of the borough of Queens in New York City. Opened in 2021, it is the home of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center. The arena officially seats 17,250 patrons for NHL games and up to 19,000 for concerts and other select events. Fans and sports writers have affectionately nicknamed the arena "The Stable", due to the arena being located at Belmont Park, a famous thoroughbred racing venue.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned by father and son duo Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter being the president and chief executive officer. It is headquartered at EverBank Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars, which is also owned by Shahid Khan. The flagship PPV for AEW is All In.
2020 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
On March 11, 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19, which occurred around the same time as COVID-19 lockdowns began in both the United States and Canada.
The 2020 NBA Bubble was the bio-secure bubble at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, that was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to protect its players from the COVID-19 pandemic during the final eight games of the 2019–20 regular season and throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs. Twenty-two out of the 30 NBA teams were invited to participate with games being held behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the teams staying at Disney World hotels.
The WWE ThunderDome was a bio-secure bubble created by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It was launched in August 2020 as a way for professional wrestling fans to attend WWE events virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bubble was a videoconferencing crowd system and arena staging utilized for broadcasts of television shows and pay-per-views of the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It worked by users signing up days before an event, logging in and joining at their allocated call time to be seen on a screen at the event in real time. It was free of charge to spectate an event.
2021 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant disruption to different combat sports, particularly during the years of 2020 into 2021.
A virtual audience is the use of videoconferencing as a substitute for an in-person studio audience or spectators during a television program or sporting event. A virtual audience allows users to attend a television taping or other event virtually by viewing it via livestreaming, and having audio and video of themselves streamed via webcam to screens at the studio or event site.